Only in very few instances do large European exchanges compete directly for one another's business. But the battle for a larger share of the derivatives markets is putting that convenient truth to the test.

Nasdaq OMX last night announced it was taking a 25% stake in the three-year old Dutch trading platform, The Order Machine, or Tom, subject to regulatory approval. It has the option to increase that to a majority stake of 50.1% within five years.

As part of the deal, Nasdaq will provide Tom with its Genium Inet trading platform, based in London, on an eight-year contract, and provide one person to the platform's supervisory board and management board. Tom’s existing shareholders – ABN Amro, Dutch lender BinckBank and trading firms Optiver and IMC Trading – will collectively dilute their investments by 25%.

The acquisition, allied with Nasdaq's fledgling interest-rate futures platform, NLX, signals a growing rivalry between the exchange and the Liffe derivatives franchise of its transatlantic rival, NYSE Euronext.

Trading in European listed derivatives has for some time been a fairly cosy duopoly between Liffe and Deutsche Börse’s Eurex. The exchanges offer nominal competition in some contracts, such as short-dated interest-rate futures, but even where competition exists liquidity still tends to pool at one exchange.

Lynton Jones, chairman of exchange consultancy Bourse Consult, said: “It looks to me that Nasdaq OMX wants to compete with Liffe on a cross-asset basis. OMX has always been good on stock options and Sweden remains one of the biggest options markets in Europe.”

A spokesman for Liffe declined to comment.

With NLX still in production and set for launch in the first half of next year, Tom provides a ready-to-go busness which, according to Hans Ole Jochumsen, executive vice-president, global data products and transaction services Nordics at Nasaq OMX, would provide the exchange with "two very complementary derivatives businesses."

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Launched in 2009, Tom offers trading in Dutch, Belgian and French stock and stock options, with clearing through the ABN Amro-owned Holland Clearing House. Having expanded its product base this year, Tom now has full competition across all NYSE single-stock options and hopes to launch competing contracts in some index option contracts by the end of this year.

Tom's options contracts have proved most popular, and the platform is now responsible for around 15% of Dutch options contracts, business won almost entirely from Liffe. Jochumsen, who will join Tom's supervisory board, said the plan was to take the platform's success into new markets.

He said: "Our focus initially will be on developing the Dutch market but we want to create a pan-European equity derivatives exchange. As we expand into other countries, we will open up possibility of bringing in other shareholders."

Post-trade arrangements are often pivotal for the success of any new derivatives venture and Jochumsen said he would be "willing to adjust the platform’s model, including its clearing arrangements."

The move will also strongly position Nasdaq for the wider changes affecting derivatives markets, as regulators seek to move the most standardised over-the-counter products onto exchange.

Jochumsen said: "We have seen heavy competition in equities and our view is that the next battleground will be derivatives, and equity derivatives in particular, before fixed income products. We have come to the conclusion that Tom is the best initiative in this market."

Analysts have pointed to further acquisitions as Nasdaq continues to diversify. Patrick Young, an analyst on the European exchange sector, said: “Nasdaq have a history of rejuvenating their franchises through the acquisition of smaller platforms. I think we’ll see more of that as they continue to evolve their business beyond their core global cash equity offerings.”